Facing Goliath with the ESG-slingshot: a financial tale of sustainable investing

Abstract

This paper examines the social imaginary of ESG investing. I first contextualize ESG in the shifting state-market dynamics and changing flows of capital brought about by the rise of asset manager capitalism, household financialization and the de-risking state. I then draw on the concept of the ‘financial tale,’ a discursive tool to motivate financial activity, to analogize the construction of the ESG imaginary to the Goliath tale. Applying critical semiotic analysis to corporate communication of ESG service providers, I lay out the three narrative themes through which the ESG Goliath tale produces meaning in line with the current political economic trajectory: the underdog, the vigilante, and the eschaton.